


Ayurnamat

by FlamingLambo



Series: Catalog [3]
Category: Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M, writing prompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2019-06-20
Packaged: 2020-05-15 09:56:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19293376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlamingLambo/pseuds/FlamingLambo
Summary: Why worry about the things you can't change? Focus on the task at hand.





	Ayurnamat

John could feel her seethe. Tiny sparks of red shot through her face, and he disabled the external mic just in time.

“What an incompetent, condescending _ass_!” Cortana warbled in his ear.

“Calm down.”

“It’s not just you, you know that right? Did you catch any of the micro-expressions from commander Lasky or Palmer? I mean, commander Palmer looked like she wanted to snap his neck for a second, and frankly, _I_ …”

“Calm down, Cortana.” John out a little more force behind the words, and tried to project a little authority in his thoughts. The Pelican jostled him for a moment as it turned perpendicular to the wind, and Cortana’s face softened.

“Sorry…I just…Del Rio acts like he’s better than everyone, like _we_ don’t know what we’re doing.” Her voice was less distorted now, replaced by her usual confident cadence, and John let himself relax slightly as she continued to think out loud. “It’s not just us. Commander Lasky looked like he was used to that sort of behavior, even if it wasn’t obvious.”

“I noticed.” John mused. He was still surprised that someone he’d pulled off a planet approximately thirty years ago had managed to survive the war and end up being the XO on the UNSC’s largest and most advanced flagship to date...what were the odds? John let himself move and adjust as the Pelican slowly wheeled around in preparation to land as Cortana seemed to sink into contemplation.

“From what I can find in the records, the Commander seems better suited to captain a ship like _Infinity_ than Del Rio.” She said, a note of humor in her voice. John watched as Cortana produced a few select files. “He thinks outside the box, sees any given battlefield differently and more thoroughly than most officers. He thinks this ‘blowthrough op’ is a bad idea, but he’s used to being ignored...” Cortana looked pensive for a moment, then her image disappeared as Commander Palmer addressed John over the comm.

"Chief; Spartan Sarah Palmer in _Infinity_ CIC. Commander Lasky's waiting for you on the Mammoth." As John stepped out of the Pelican, he could feel Cortana’s annoyance at the situation flare again; _why was the ship's XO on the ground?_ John shrugged mentally. There was no point getting caught up in the whys and wherefores of the events at hand. He couldn’t change them, so why worry about it? They had a mission, and regardless of how poorly planned it was, he intended to complete it. He had, after all, been _made_ to succeed in the face of adversity…and it was always the most satisfying to win in the face of doubt.


End file.
